Impersonation fraud borrows authority. The caller is not selling anything: they are telling you that something has already gone wrong and that they are the person fixing it. That is why it works on people who would never fall for an investment pitch.
The three costumes
- Your bank's fraud team: they quote a real recent transaction, then ask you to move money to a "safe account", install a support app, or read out a code.
- HMRC or a government body: an unpaid tax demand, an arrest threat, a refund that needs your card details.
- The police or a courier: you are told you are helping an investigation, and asked to withdraw cash or buy gold.
Why the details are convincing
Caller ID can be spoofed, so the number on your screen means nothing. Fragments of real data — a recent purchase, your address, the last four digits of a card — often come from earlier phishing or a data breach, and they are used precisely to establish trust in the first thirty seconds. Some calls are warmed up with a text or email a day earlier, so that when the phone rings you are already expecting it.
The pressure script
Three levers appear in nearly every call: urgency ("the payment is leaving now"), secrecy ("branch staff may be involved"), and authority ("I am recording this call for the investigation"). Secrecy is the tell. Genuine institutions expect you to check with someone else.
What to do
- End the call. Wait a couple of minutes, then dial the number on your card or the organisation's published number.
- Never install remote-access software at the request of a caller.
- If money has gone, tell your bank immediately and ask for the case to be logged as a scam.
- Report to Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk) and keep the reference.
- If a decision goes against you, the Financial Ombudsman Service (financial-ombudsman.org.uk) is free, as is the FCA consumer helpline on 0800 111 6768.
Forwarding suspicious texts to 7726 and reporting emails to the national suspicious email service both cost nothing and help take the infrastructure down.
Firm warnings published each month
98 in this window · down 17 on the month before
- 2Apr
- 1May
- 2Jun
- 4Jul
- 53Aug
- 36Sept
Counted from the warning notices in our own archive. One notice can name several trading styles.
The wider record
Counts from our own archive, for context around this report. Not an estimate of fraud across the UK.
Clone firms as a share of our Warning List archive
Clone firms copy the name or details of a genuine authorised business.
- Clone of an authorised firm17(16%)
- Not recorded as a clone89(84%)
Contact details recorded against warned firms
One firm can appear in more than one row.
Website recorded76(35%)
Website recorded: 76 entriesPhone recorded39(18%)
Phone recorded: 39 entriesEmail recorded85(39%)
Email recorded: 85 entriesNo contact details held16(7%)
No contact details held: 16 entries
Open the data page to see how each figure is counted.
How this report was made
- Updated
- 3 times
- Primary sources
- 5 sources
- Following this subject
- 0 readers
- Reader comments
- 0 comments
Checked against the published record
FCA
Financial Conduct Authority Warning ListPrimary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
FCA
FCA Financial Services RegisterAuthoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
PSR
Payment Systems Regulator — APP fraud reimbursementThe reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
FOS
Financial Ombudsman ServiceFree, independent adjudication and published decision data.
Action Fraud
Action Fraud reporting serviceThe UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Sourcing. Every claim is tied to a published record — a regulator's notice, a court or ombudsman decision, or a document we hold. We quote a headline and a short summary and link the original.
Right of reply. Firms and people we criticise are put on notice before publication and their response is carried in the piece.
Independence. No affiliate links, no sponsored placements and no referrals to solicitors or claims firms. The only routes we point to are free. Read the full method · first published 08/08/2026
Trust and sourcing
- Bylined
- Editor approved
- Not flagged for review
Legal review
Not required
No individual or firm is criticised, so no right of reply was required.
Source URLs behind this report
- FCA
https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/warning-list-unauthorised-firms
Primary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
- FCA
https://register.fca.org.uk/
Authoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
- PSR
https://www.psr.org.uk/
The reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
- FOS
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
Free, independent adjudication and published decision data.
- Action Fraud
https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
The UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
What changed in each update
First published 8 August 2026 at 08:00 · last updated 11 August 2026 at 10:00
Added the current free reporting routes and clarified what the reimbursement rules do and do not cover.
Payment Systems RegulatorChecked against the source record and refreshed the figures and dates in the panels. No findings changed.
FCA Financial Services RegisterFirst published.
FCA Warning List
Updates and change log
- First published
- Last updated
Added the current free reporting routes and clarified what the reimbursement rules do and do not cover.
Payment Systems RegulatorChecked against the source record and refreshed the figures and dates in the panels. No findings changed.
FCA Financial Services RegisterFirst published.
FCA Warning List
Sources for this report
- FCA Financial Conduct Authority Warning List — Primary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
- FCA FCA Financial Services Register — Authoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
- PSR Payment Systems Regulator — APP fraud reimbursement — The reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
- FOS Financial Ombudsman Service — Free, independent adjudication and published decision data.
- Action Fraud Action Fraud reporting service — The UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Sources for this report
Financial Conduct Authority Warning List
FCA
Primary record of firms the FCA says may be operating without authorisation.
Read the original sourceFCA Financial Services Register
FCA
Authoritative check on whether a firm is authorised and for what.
Read the original sourcePayment Systems Regulator — APP fraud reimbursement
PSR
The reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment fraud.
Read the original sourceFinancial Ombudsman Service
FOS
Free, independent adjudication and published decision data.
Read the original sourceAction Fraud reporting service
Action Fraud
The UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Read the original source
We link directly to the original source wherever possible. A source may update its own page after we publish; we show the date we last recorded or updated the citation.
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- Scam types
- Impersonation scams
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About the author
Daniel Okoye — Daniel covers authorised push payment fraud, payment systems and the reimbursement rules. He previously worked on a regional investigations desk.
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